Money
by anxiousgeek
Summary: Cullen/F!Trevelyan smut fic. The Inquisition needs money - getting married to a rich noble seems to be the best way to go about getting it. Another Girls Aloud song title. Check out my Patreon.


Cullen hated this.

Hated the way she paraded around, eyeing up the nobles in the hall, they way they paraded around and eyed her up. Ever since Evelyn had started taking the offers of marriages and proposals seriously more nobles had been turning up at the fortress, their behaviour more obvious than before. They all wanted her, the match was advantageous to any noble house.

And, beyond that, the Inquisitor was beautiful.

Dark hair, and skin of umber. Bright eyes and a sweet curve to her lips. A stunning figure than armour couldn't hide and her casual beige outfit seemed to emphasise.

He understood what they saw. He saw it too.

Wanted it too.

Cullen wasn't eligible though. He didn't have a title, or land, or more importantly money.

That's what it came down to really.

Money.

The inquisition certainly needed it, Evelyn herself didn't need or want it but she had accepted that the Inquisition needed it. Was willing to marry for it and he didn't understand it. Didn't think she'd really do it.

Except she was seriously considering it.

xxx

 _He kisses her hard, all lips and tongue, desperate and needy. She shoves her fingers up into his hair, curling them and tugging hard, tugging him closer. He grips her hips, digging into the flesh as hard as he can through her jacket. He wants skin. He wants skin and will have skin, just as soon as he can stop kissing her._

 _He pushes her back against his office door, pressing his entire weight into her smaller frame. She's by no means tiny but he is all bulk and thick metal, and she all curves and thin material. He has the advantage. If only here and now._

 _She moans._

 _He feels it. Not through her chest – too much armour – but through her lips, making his tingle in turn. He growls, growls at the feeling of her pulling so hard on his head, at the feel of her pushing her hips into her, at the feel of her letting go._

 _He moans._

 _He needs more and pushes his hands up and under her jacket, her tunic – too many layers – until he reaches skin and moans nipping at her bottom lip a little too hard. She likes it though, given the way she bucks into him and cries out._

 _She starts to say his name, moan it, but he stops her with another kiss, making her laugh. He smiles at her, kissing her again like he might die if doesn't._

xxx

Evelyn had always expected to get married this way.

Love was for peasants. Isn't that what her mother said. Or was it Mother Ablea at the chantry. She couldn't quite remember – it had been a long time since she had seen either of them. She supposed she hadn't expected there to be quite so many suitors, from so many places in Thedas. Or that Josephine would be quite so instrumental in arranging the marriage.

Or that she would get a choice.

Josephine – a noble herself, who would no doubt have her own arranged marriage that she'd hinted to – had been adamant that Evelyn make the choice. That money (or perhaps arms, she'd added) was what would qualify these men for marriage but the choice would be hers. That she could choose any man she liked.

Should she like any of them.

They didn't talk about what they would do if she didn't like any of them.

Perhaps Josephine was expecting her to like at least someone. There were plenty of them to choose from and these were just the ones who had come to Skyhold. A few were handsome enough, a few nice and pleasant. Some deeply mean, she could tell by the way they held themselves before they were even introduced to her. Surely Josephine knew she wouldn't consider anyone horrible.

Though most of these men had just turned up.

"What do you think?" the Ambassador asked quietly, looking around the room.

"I think most of these men need sending away," she groaned. "Especially him."

She pointed at the Comte DeLuise – a man who had already insulted her, The Free Marches and The Inquistion in a single sitting – and Josephine nodded, snapping her fingers at a couple of Inquisition guards who were at her side in an instant. Evelyn was both amazed and horrified at how quickly the man was removed from the main hall, Josephine smiling the entire time.

"We need not waste resources we do not have on people you will not marry."

Evelyn nodded, looking around the room, catching a glance of Cullen in the corner.

xxx

 _Thick fingers pull at little buttons until they come free and he can pull open her jacket. He discards it quickly, and tugs at the hem of her tunic. She pulls back a little to take it off, throwing it to the floor with her jacket._

 _Her breast band is already gone, discarded before she even came to his office. Her growls again, the sound making her shudder and press her body back against his, the armour cold against her nipples. She cried out, the sensation already painful but wonderful all the same._

 _He kisses her again, deep and desperate pressing her back against the door again. He kisses her jaw, nips her necks, dots more kisses down her chest and over her breasts. She arches her back thrusts her chest out at him for more attention, more, more, more and he kisses around a nipple. She closes her eyes and lets the sensations hit her, hard and hot._

 _"Cu-"_

 _He cuts her off with a hand to her mouth and she swallows his name with a gasp, all muffled by his palm. He finally takes an aching nipples into his mouth, sucking for a moment before swirling his wet tongue around it and she wants to scream._

 _He moves his hand from her mouth and plays with her other nipples, all the while pressing his hips into hers, the metal digging into her but Evelyn didn't care. She just wanted more._

xxx

Cullen watched as Evelyn laughed at something a Ferelden Teryn told. He should probably know the man's name, he was a Ferelden too after all and for security reasons but he couldn't remember it. All he could see was the way he stood too close to Evelyn, the way she leaned into him and the way she blushed when he brushed his hand over her arm.

He seemed like a nice enough man.

That only made it worse.

Was this the one? This man with dark hair that matched her own and a decent smile, though older than her,. He seemed amicable enough from where he sat watching.

"Glowering?" Leliana said, "It's not becoming."

He grumbled something at her and she chuckled.

"Who is he?" he asked.

"Teryn Cousland – the Hero of Ferelden's brother," she said. "A good match for her, I introduced them."

"He's a good man?" Cullen asked.

"Of course," she said, indignant. "A good match financially and politically, and he would be a good husband."

Cullen grumbled again, swearing at her as she almost flounced away, eyes still on Evelyn as she flirted with Teryn Cousland, the man more than receptive of her attentions. He almost rushed over then when the man offered his arm and Evelyn took it, the two of them walking towards the door and out to the courtyard.

He wasn't sure what stopped him.

Leliana was right though: he was a good match.

xxx

 _He moves her then, twirls them both around and maneuvers them towards his desk. He lifts her easily, pushes her onto the surface of his desk, pushes her to lie back and she follows, breathing hard, blushing and smiling at him._

 _She's not shy, she reaches out to him but he waits, smiling back and starting to unbuckle his armour. He needs to feel her against him, all that bronze smooth skin against his own pale scarred body._

 _She pouts._

 _It's adorable._

 _He's quick but careful with his armour, placing it to one side instead of throwing it and she's watching his every move, her arousal not dulling even though he no longer touched her. Though, her hands moved over her own skin in little patterns, brushing over her nipples and down, down over the dark hair at her centre and over the darker skin inside her thighs._

 _He looks at her face and she grins._

 _He just laughs and finally naked, kisses her again, skin against skin._

xxx

Evelyn liked Fergus Cousland.

He was handsome, sensible, honest. Seemed caring too, as he aided her over some of the bricks still strewn over the battlements. She didn't need the help, they both knew it, but it was a nice gesture. He listened too, as she pointed out some of the work that needed doing first, and badly. Cullen was still working from a table in the courtyard, Josephine still sleeping in her office. The hospital was still a bunch of cots outside.

He agreed it seemed desperate, agreed that money was needed.

Seemed a little concerned too.

Evelyn liked him. Maybe too much to take his money.

From the battlements they could see down into the valley at the bottom of the mountain. They could see the rows of tents that had started to spring up since they had arrived, the bulk of her army already trained and ready for orders, living in the space below the fortress. It grew quickly, more arrived everyday and the need for money grew everyday.

Refugees came too. From the war in Orlais, from places around Haven where the Corypheus' army had marched through.

More and more, she had to support them all, without a penny too her name. Evelyn had quickly leaned that while her family had money, she did not, and they were yet to form an opinion on her new role.

But then, even the Trevelyans didn't have enough money to support the burgeoning Inquisition.

"There is a lot on your shoulders my lady," Fergus said, quietly.

She almost said _too much_ before remembering who she was with – a virtual stranger, however nice he was, but not a friend.

Not yet.

"Perhaps," she said instead, with a small smile. "Come, let us return to the hall. It is cold out here."

"Not for a Ferelden," Fergus said, with a chuckle.

She laughed.

"Perhaps," she said again, leading back towards the main hall.

Xxx

 _Her breeches and small clothes are pulled off quickly, with no preamble, no hesitation and she gasps at the cold._

 _He pushes her legs apart and kisses her abdomen quickly, before bending over to press a kiss to the course hairs of her sex, already damp with wanting him. She whines, hitching her hips up towards him and he chuckles, pressing his mouth to her wet lips to the glorious sound of her long moan._

 _"Oh, Maker, more," she groans and he gives her just that, his tongue running through her arousal, still not enough, still not nearly enough. He searches out her clit, sucking it into his mouth and she squeals._

 _She feel the blush rise up on her cheeks again at the sound she made as he pleasures her; tongue pressing at her entrance one moment, back on her clit the next, never letting her settle or get used to the sensations._

 _Everything pulses, from her clit to her head and back down again, her entire body shudders when he presses a thick finger into her body and sucks hard on her clit. She wasn't quite ready for the sensations that hit her then, and she thinks she might scream._

 _He shoves another finger into her body and she does scream._

 _He continues to thrust his fingers in and out her body as her orgasm hits, on and out, lips around her clit. The pleasure starts to turn to pain but she relishes it, endures it for a long moment until she thinks she's whimpering._

 _He pulls back, fingers from her body, wiping her cum from his chin with a grin. She can barely keep her eyes open to look at him but manages long enough to see him move over her once more to kiss her, deep and desperate still, his erection pressing into her._

xxx

Back in the main hall, Cullen watched as Teryn Cousland kissed Evelyn's hand with a little bow before walking away and back to his own advisers. She watched him go, watched him with a small smile on her face that made him feel a little sick.

Was this the man? Had she already made a decision?

He downed his ale.

It didn't help.

Evelyn – still smiling – headed over to Leliana and Josephine, the two women smiling broadly, Josephine even giggling a little as they spoke and he watched, watched as they made decisions that would change his life without him.

Of course, he realised, they didn't know that.

Teryn Cousland looked happy too, drinking his own ale much slower than himself, talking with the other nobles now and glancing over at Evelyn every so often. He was definitely interested, Cullen decided.

He needed to act.

He chased after another ale.

Iron Bull stood in his way.

"Don't do it Commander," he said, folding his arms. Cullen frowned at him. "Either talk to her or go back to your office."

Cullen looked over at Evelyn one last time, the young woman hugging Leliana now with a huge smile on her face.

"Good night Bull," he muttered, pushing past him and storming through the throng of nobles.

Talk to her? What in the void would he say?

 _xxx_

 _Another messy kiss and he pulls back to look at her, to wonder at her – all dazed and smiling, all aimed at him. She's satisfied, he can see it in her eyes, happy too and it makes him happy to see her looking like that. Looking at him like that._

 _"Ev-"_

 _She kisses him, kisses him before he can say her name. It's become a thing. For a moment they are just people and not Evelyn and Cullen._

 _He smiles again, hasn't smiled this much for years and pulls back to take his erection in hand, guides into her body and pushes, pushes slowly. She's tight, oh, and hot and he has to control his breathing for a moment until he's buried to the hilt and she's whimpering again._

 _"Okay?" he asks._

 _"Yes, yes, Maker yes," she rambles and he laughs, a little hysterical, pulling back and pushing back in and Maker yes._

 _He's not going to last. It's been too long and she feels too good, and he grabs her hips and starts up a quick rhythm, hard and fast and fucking fantastic. She falls into the rhythm with him, thrusting up easily to meet him taking him deeper and deeper, harder and harder._

 _More and more, he needs release, and he moves to press a thumb to her clit and she squeals and it's delightful. He would laugh if every breath wasn't stolen by little grunts as he moves and he dips down to give her a peck on the lips._

 _"Close?" she moans, the words caught on a squeal and he laughs this time, the noise strangled._

 _"Yes, yes."_

 _"Harder, just a little harder," she begs and he moves his hand from her hip to her shoulder, changing the angle of his thrusts, and she squeals, again._

 _He's too far gone now._

 _Every thrust in is almost too much and when he finally comes he feels every part of her body react, her scream and her squeezing him, hands trying to hold on to him, to the table._

 _To herself._

 _He felt the same._

xxx

Could he be the one?

Fergus Cousland was nice, honest, normal. Ferelden. Handsome too, in a way, Evelyn definitely liked him. Enough to seriously consider him.

Leliana and Josephine both approved. Leliana had introduced them after all, and Josephine liked the man well enough, even if he was Ferelden. Though she was often more worried about what the Orlesians would think than Evelyn really considered she should.

She would appreciate Cullen's opinion too. He hadn't offered any opinion when they had spoke about it in the War Room – mostly he had just watched her, occasionally glowered at Leliana, glared at Josephine, grumbled at himself. Avoided making eye contact with Cullen. They weren't the greatest of friends and she had hoped that they would become closer over time.

Oh Evelyn had hoped.

She'd put aside any ideas of more when she realised she would need to marry.

Still she wanted his opinion, his approval and ran up to his office, knocking on the door. When he opened it, grumbling again but stopping when he saw her and frowning.

She hated that look on his face. A little sad, a little lost.

"I, um," she didn't actually know what to say, his gaze was so intense."

"I take it you have found a husband," he said. Because he knew, of course he knew, he'd been watching her all night, she'd seen him.

"Possibly."

He nodded and was silent for a minute. She squirmed under his scrutiny, always did, and then reached out for to her, without actually touching her.

"Are you really going to go through with it?" he asked, dropping his hand again. She sighed and for a moment thought about it, kissing Fergus Cousland, marrying him, loving him. She would be happy, eventually.

"Give me a reason not to," she said, bold and brave and brash.

She was ready to walk away when he kissed her, needy and desperate and pulled her into his office.

xxx

 _She groans as he pulls out and she collapses back on his desk. He leans over her and kisses her once more, unable to get enough of her even as he's unable breath back._

 _She smiles at him, stroking a hand through his hair and over his sweaty back. She tries not to think about what this means, because it might not mean anything. She might marry Teryn Cousland anyway, she might not because of this, because of him._

 _He doesn't move though and she doesn't have her answer for long answers as they breathe each other in._

 _Finally he sighs. He sighs and stands and smiles at her._

 _"What now?" she asks almost in a panic._

 _"Don't marry the Teryn" he says, trying his best to keep his voice level but not quite managing it. He pulls her up and wraps his arms around her. "Marry me?"_

 _"I won't – what?"_

 _"You were willing to marry him, marry me instead."_

 _She smiles._

 _"You're a fool Cullen," she tells him, kissing him._

 _"I know."_

 _He finally smiles, and she can see the lost look loosen slightly, still sad behind it all. She wants to kiss it away, tries, but even as she just makes him breathless and less desperate the sadness remains._

 _There is much to know about this man. There is much for him to know about her._

 _She must just marry him anyway._

 _"I'll get the money," he tells her, when she doesn't answer._

 _She chuckles._

 _"It will mean I'm a fool too," she says. "But people have married for worse reasons."_

 _"Like money," he says, with a laugh._

 _"Very well, let us marry."_

 _He kisses her then, the need and desperation lessening slightly and it's not quite love, not yet, but it's more than she ever expected to have._


End file.
